Review: ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’

Monty Python's Flying Circus, the British comedy group which gained fame via BBC-TV, send-up Arthurian legend, performed in whimsical fashion with Graham Chapman an effective straight man as King Arthur.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the British comedy group which gained fame via BBC-TV, send-up Arthurian legend, performed in whimsical fashion with Graham Chapman an effective straight man as King Arthur.

Story deals with Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail and his battles along the way with various villains and is basically an excuse for set pieces, some amusing, others overdone.

Running gags include lack of horses for Arthur and his men, and a lackey clicking cocoanuts together to make suitable hoof noises as the men trot along. The extravagantly gruesome fight scenes, including one which ends with a man having all four limbs severed, will get laughs from some and make others squirm.